ONE of the world’s leading wildlife artists became a conservationist overnight after seeing more than 200 dead zebra, thousands of miles away from his Surrey home.

David Shepherd set up his wildlife foundation in Cranleigh in 1960, 24 years after seeing the zebra by a poisoned Tanzanian watering hole.

He chose Cranleigh because he had lived in Hascombe for 32 years, before moving to West Sussex.

In 1960, the Royal Air Force, where he had been working as an aviation artist, commissioned him to paint his first wildlife painting of a rhino in Kenya.

“I owe them an awful lot,” he said. “That was a catalyst in my life and people have asked me to paint ever since,” he said.

David spends his time fundraising for the foundation and educating people about the importance of preserving wildlife.

He is immensely proud of the foundation: “It’s a double life. It’s very exciting. To have my own charity and foundation has worked extremely well.

“It was judged as one of the most successful wildlife charities in the country.”

So far, the foundation has raised more than £3 million.

All David’s work is commissioned and one piece, called Tiger Fire, raised £127,000 back in 1973.

The foundation funds far reaching projects to save critically endangered mammals in the wild and to benefit rural communities sharing their environment.

Projects have included saving the Siberian tiger from almost certain extinction, trebling the size of a South African national park and reintroducing the Black Rhino after more than 170 years.

“I cannot tell you how it feels,” David said. “Can you imagine how exciting it is to be in a national park in South Africa where they have not had a black rhino and now we have doubled the size of the park.”

The foundation raises awareness in schools to teach young people about endangered species early on.

It has also built a school and hospital on the edge of India’s famous Ranthambore Tiger Reserve and funded some of Africa’s largest seizures of ivory.

“Since time immemorial, one species became extinct every century,” he said. “Today, one becomes extinct every hour. Wildlife around the world is being decimated by an awesome onslaught of threats ranging from habitat destruction and hunting, to pollution.”

Originally, David would paint as he travelled. He has now collected enough reference material and photographs from countries such as Africa and India to paint from his East Grinstead studio.

David said residents in Surrey and beyond can contribute to preserving wildlife without visiting the countries.

Donations will help undercover agents tackle wildlife crime and enable the charity to fund more projects. Among the countries it is working in are Cambodia, Thailand, Russia, Uganda and Mongolia.

Profits go directly to projects in Africa and India.

“We are trying to get the message through to people,” he said. “Elephants, tigers, gorillas and rhinos are being slaughtered for their parts. The tiger could be extinct within five years.”

He said a tiger skeleton would reach $30,000 and elephant ivory and rhino horns are highly sought after.

“We are not thinking about what we are doing. It’s terrifying. It’s not a question of man’s future on this planet we are all in it together.”

He educates communities about the importance of animals on their doorstep.

“They don’t realise the severity of what they’re doing. They are local people living on the breadline and if they catch rhino they can make money illegally by selling the horns.”